Some of us homeschool moms, on our bad days, have this nagging fear that we’ll forget something. A grandparent will comment, “He can’t do what?!” and we will realize we’ve shoved him off into life without that one important skill we didn’t want him to leave home without. That he’ll be off in a foreign country, call home, and ask, “Hey Mom, how DO you _______?” What life skills do you want to make sure you children do not leave home without? A free 4-page life skills checklist compiled by Christine Field, author of Life Skills for Kids: Equipping Your Child for the Real World, offered by Focus on the Family:
an age-specific list of abilities that will serve your child well as he or she grows into an independent adult.
The checklist breaks the skills down into four different age groups (4–7, 8–12, 13–15, and 16–18). The broad areas covered include:
- Interactions with others.
- Time management.
- Money management.
- Organizing and decluttering.
- Repair and maintenance.
- Household basics.
- Healthy habits.
- Decision-making skills.
The skills basically build on each other from one age group to the next.
As always, you’ll want to use this checklist as a starting point to create one that fits your family — adding skills that are important for each child in your family and subtracting skills that don’t fit. But the checklist is an excellent starting point!
So don’t panic. Check the life skills checklist…just in case.
Additional Resources
Life Skills for Kids by Christine M. Field
The book includes lots of details on how to approach teaching these skills to our children. Also available on Kindle.
45 Life Skills Your Children Need Before They Leave Home
Includes a brief review of the book above.
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